


Remedial Soulmate Magic

by teakturn



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Background Poly, F/F, Fillory (The Magicians), Idiots in Love, Jealousy, M/M, Magical Accidents, Multi, Mutual Pining, POV Margo Hanson, Pining, Pining Margo, Polyamory, Soulmate Magic Gone Wrong, Todd is Todd, Unrequited Love, soulmate magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2020-10-21 12:29:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20693543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teakturn/pseuds/teakturn
Summary: "Margo gasped and jumped, she hadn't heard Alice move closer. Her skin was as pale as the rest of her, nails cut short and neat. There were scars here and there across the back of her hands, memories of battles Margo knew nothing about. She didn’t know if it was her place to ask.It wasn’t hard to see they’d led very different lives before and after the brief moment their paths crossed at Brakebills. Margo’s hands were as smooth and unblemished as could be, given what she’d been through. Her nails were painted a rich, royal purple and carefully filed into an almond shape. There was not a chip to be found in her nail polish."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *Do not steal or repost my work*

Margo studied the map for a long moment, trying to wrap her head around the gently rolling hills and valleys butting against the hard jutting lines of the city. The longer she looked the farther she felt from any kind of solution. New York was a jagged mess of territories belonging to Hedge Witch safe houses and idiots playing around with magic they didn’t understand. Most were too small to matter or had, at some point, joined the gaggle of hedges she’d been left in charge of.

The rest were under the thumb of the Head Bitch of New York. Otherwise known as Marina Motherfucking Andreski. Also known as the kink in Margo’s neck that no amount of bubble baths could rub out.

“Uh-um...Ms. Hanson,”

“Ugh! Fuck,” Margo took a breath. In a tight but calmer tone of voice, Margo said, “Yes?”

She turned to find Todd looking wide-eyed and ready to bolt for the door. Irritatingly enough she softened a bit more. Todd was...Todd, but he couldn’t help it. He was mostly elbows and a sweet but crafty opportunist. It was the only reason she kept him around, the enemy you know and all that.

“A Miss Quinn is waiting outside? She said you guys-”

Margo raised a hand, “I know her.” Todd immediately relaxed, all the taut energy he’d carried in rushed from his body in a visible release of tension.

Unfortunately for him, Margo felt so tense she could grind her jaw to dust. _What is she doing here?_ Curling her hand into a fist that she hid behind her back, Margo gave Todd an impatient look.

“Well send her in!” Todd scurried from the room, leaving Margo in peace to collect herself.

Moving quickly, Margo folded the maps and shuffled all the letters (threats more like), underneath a pile of notebooks on her desk. She’d have to go through those later and weed out all the spells worth experimentation. The problem with hedge witches was that the newbies never knew what the fuck to look for and the gifted kids were so fucking smug they tried to create their spells without any fucking training. She'd only known one hedge with the power to create her spells months after learning how to use magic and Margo knows for a fact that there won't be another Julia Wicker for at least a few generations.

With a glance, she studied her office for anything else that needed tidying before Alice’s arrival. Those ice-blue eyes missed nothing and Margo couldn’t afford to reveal anything.

The office she’d commandeered in the unmarked building she’d made her headquarters was as large as the living room in the Physical Kids’ Cottage. For the sake of her sanity, she’d made a complete turn from the dark woods and heavy patterned fabrics of her chambers in Whitespire. Bright, white wood-paneled walls and the many many floors to ceiling bookshelves. The room had a trendy Scandinavian meets Art Deco because let's face it, Margo could never let go of over the top glamor.

Her desk was a grand antique affair. although she hadn’t seen the surface of it since she bought it. In contrast to the pale wood of the walls and her huge desk, Margo's love of rich colors was expressed in the thick rugs placed strategically around the room. In one corner there was a long table she used to hold the maps of New York and it’s hedge witch territories. Above it was a portrait of her and Eliot from their short reign in Fillory.

A reminder and a momento, always there in the corner of Margo’s eye lest she forget what her arrogance and hubris had cost her.

The sure click-clack of approaching heels and the sound of Todd stumbling and squeaking about in his rubber soles snapped Margo out of her nervous tidying. She adjusted her eyepatch-of-the-day, an elaborate wine red and gold affair that matched her gold peplum top and the deep burgundy of her pants. She looked as fabulous as she always did yet that fabulosity was only skin deep.

Alice Quinn, after all these years, looked just as frigid and beautiful as ever. Her ice-blue eyes had that same sharp edge that had caught Margo’s eye all those years ago. The vulnerability was gone though, as little as there had been when they’d met. The pale, stick-straight blonde hair was the same, longer now. It shone in the light as it fell in a cascade across one shoulder. And she'd given up the babydoll dresses and skater skirts. Now a thick, powder blue sweater and dark jeans hung off a body Margo felt so drawn to she couldn't help taking a step towards the other woman.

It had been so, so long since they'd seen one another. There'd been a few near misses during the holidays up at Quentin and Eliot's. But it always seemed as if as soon as Margo was going Alice was there right behind her. There'd been one miserable New Years where Margo's drunk, teary eyes had sworn she'd seen Alice walking don't the street to Eliot and Quentin's house.

As soon as she'd realized what she'd done, Margo stopped herself. To hide the slip she smiled warmly, all trace of her earlier frustration and panic absent in the familiar way she crossed the room and pulled Alice into a brief hug. The other woman had no time to reciprocate before Margo was off again, walking over to the built-in bar she’d insisted on during construction to make this place liveable.

“Would you like a drink?” Margo poured a healthy serving of champagne in a flute and followed it with organic peach juice before Alice could answer.

“It’s ten in the morning,” Alice drew closer with heavy steps Margo could feel resonating in her chest.

She’d felt her presence as soon as Alice had entered the room and as she drew closer the very force of her existence pressed in on Margo from all sides. It was a miracle her hand didn’t shake as she handed Alice her glass.

“I’m still on Fillory time,” a lie. Margo hadn't been in Fillory long enough to feel the time change. But no one knew that but Eliot. Maybe Quentin, if Eliot ever felt up to sharing what they'd gone through. 

The slight chuckle from Alice warmed her from the inside out, changing Margo's forced smile into something approaching genuine. The warmth was unexpected. Margo had to take a moment to collect herself before she could face that blue-eyed stare. Yet when she turned Margo saw the unwelcome form of Todd, still hanging around the door looking way too interested in what was going on.

“Todd!” Margo snapped.

Todd jumped nearly a foot in the air and rushed to exit the room. Margo glared after him. Todd was harmless, for now. Margo had him well in hand and he hadn’t given her anything to worry about. Yet. But maybe she’d gotten too caught up in her work. She couldn’t let him catch her slipping. 

“I haven’t seen that look on your face in a long time,” Alice’s voice drew Margo’s eye and left her drowning in an ocean of blue.

“What, calculating bitch?”

Alice’s eyes dropped to her feet and the small smile on her lips turned a little sweeter, “I always...liked it.” Alice flipped her hair out of her face and met Margo’s eyes, “When it wasn’t being directed at me.”

Margo’s smile slipped into her trademark smirk, “Yeah well, the new girl had an edge. I wanted to figure out what she knew that I didn’t.”

The laugh they share broke the last of the tension between them. Margo led Alice over to the plush, fan back chairs in front of the fireplace. She indulged the sudden urge she felt to place her hand on the small of Alice's back. Back in the day, Margo would have wrapped an arm around her waist. Young Margo was more cuddly than most people gave her credit for. It made Alice so uncomfortable at the time, Margo couldn't help but brush the hair off her shoulder or lean into her side when they were near one another. It was worth it for the flash of cold fury, and the pink tint on her high cheekbones.

Alice made polite comments about her office and Margo commended her on growing out of the babydoll dresses and skater skirts. Alice's reply was a sharp non-question about Margo's eyepatch. They hadn't been anywhere near ready to talk to one another when Margo had lost it. And then there was that period of time where Margo was bitter with all that she'd gone through and survived. She wasn't exactly chomping at the bit to share her life story. They talked idly about their friend group. Last Margo had heard Penny, Kady, and Julia was somewhere in Figi fucking like rabbits on the beach and making her nauseous with how in love they all are.

“Well, you know Quentin and Eliot moved to upstate New York so now they’re all domestic raising goats and inviting me up to dinner parties every other week,” Margo rolled her eyes, the smile on her mouth at odds with her dry tone.

Eliot was happy, the happiest she’d ever seen him living like a trophy husband. Quentin had earned his special place in Margo’s heart so seeing him settled and genuinely content with his life was its own relief and joy. Going out to their quaint little cottage and listening to them bicker was the shot of domesticity Margo needed after all the shit she puts up with.

“Are you going to their reunion dinner next week. Penny texted and said that they’d be back in the city by then.” 

Margo blew air between her lips in a great huff. There it was then. The gang hadn’t been together all at once since Margo’s graduation and that _awful_ night that had fractured them all. Well, fractured some of them. The Throuple was thriving and Q and Eliot had never been happier. No, the only fracture in their friend group was between the two women sitting in the same room yet unable to even look at one another.

“I get to see the throuple in action? Barf,” Margo left her chair and approached the bar. Champagne wouldn’t cut it for this conversation. She pulled out the vodka and removed the cork with her teeth. She poured herself a hefty glass, swallowed it back, and poured another.

“I thought we could be adults about this,” Alice’s voice was cold, judgmental.

Margo snorted, “I am being an adult. Have you seen a kid shoot vodka?”

“Margo,” the disappointment and disapproval in her soft voice made Margo's hackles rise. It was always the same with her. Margo was herself, trauma and coping mechanisms and all, and Alice was disappointed. So fucking disappointed in Margo, as if she'd ever thought more of her to begin with.

“What, Alice?” Margo snapped. She set her glass down a little too hard and turned to glare at the other woman.

“What do you want from me? You know what we mean to each other, you know why this doesn’t work.”

“It doesn't have to work but we can’t keep punishing our friends because of our incompatibility.” Alice glared with blue eyes of fire, her mouth set in a thin line. “It’s only four hours. We can get through that.”

Margo’s heart felt like it was being squeezed. She turned away from Alice and poured another hefty glass of vodka. 

“I probably can’t come anyway. I have hedges to oversee and Andreski breathing down my neck-”

“You’re a coward.” Alice shook her head. The look in her eyes through the bar mirror did more to shame Margo than anything she’d ever said to her.

“I’m playing it smart. I would think you knew enough to do the same.” Margo turned her head just enough to catch sight of Alice standing, glass in hand and her other hand flitting from her waist to the stem of her glass.

The familiarity of Alice’s fidgeting was like a punch in the gut. Breathless and reeling, Margo turned to face the bottle lined shelves on the wall behind the bar. She wouldn’t argue about this. She saw Quentin and Eliot often enough that missing one dinner won’t be the end of the world. As for the Throuple, Kady was her second in command she could hear all about the mind-blowing psychic threesomes she was having without an audience.

“Is it so bad?” Alice’s voice cracked in frustration, “Am I so disgusting to you that you can’t go to one dinner with our friends?”

There has never been a more loaded question. Alice was a stubborn know-it-all who dove headfirst into challenges without any scope of the danger of her choices. She could be cold and judgemental at times. As socially inept as Q when left to her own devices. And Margo loved her for it. Margo loved every inch of Alice Quinn inside and out. There was no rhyme or reason to the burning inside her chest whenever she was near. No sense in the loss Margo felt whenever their friends spoke of her in passing.

Alice shone in Margo’s eyes, golden and untouchable and unwelcome.

Margo sipped at her vodka, wishing she could drink herself happy and forget all about this reunion. But Head Bitches couldn’t get drunk when there was work to be done. It was no wonder Marina was such a pill, the woman probably hadn’t had a stiff drink since coming into power.

“You made it clear how you feel about me, Alice. We can talk about the old days and share a drink, but you and I both know that there will never be anything between us but the weight of what _we_ are.” Margo set her glass on the bartop so carefully it barely made a sound.

“I’ll call Todd to come see you out,” Margo crossed the room to her desk without sparing a glance towards Alice. She focused on making sure her hand didn’t shake as she pressed the intercom to alert Todd that he was needed. The sound of startled crashing and Todd’s weak yelp of surprise had Margo rolling her eyes.

She couldn’t wait until Kady was back.

“Margo,” her name slipped from Alice’s lips like sand through grasping fingers. The tone of her voice was enough to have Margo close her eyes against the onslaught of emotions coursing through her. She sounded regretful but maybe that was just wishful thinking on Margo’s part.

“Margo I’m sorry about what I said,” Alice gently placed her hand on top of Margo’s. Margo gasped and jumped, she hadn't heard Alice move closer. Her skin was as pale as the rest of her, nails cut short and neat. There were scars here and there across the back of her hands, memories of battles Margo knew nothing about. She didn’t know if it was her place to ask.

It wasn’t hard to see they’d led very different lives before and after the brief moment their paths crossed at Brakebills. Margo’s hands were as smooth and unblemished as could be given what she’d been through. Her nails were painted a rich, royal purple and carefully filed into an almond shape. There was not a chip to be found in her nail polish. 

Margo’s pinkie lifted to rest on top of Alice’s little finger. It was as much of herself as she could give. 

Yes, Margo believed Alice was sorry. No one knew how hard it was to apologize for being wrong when you’re usually not more than Margo. Alice’s sincerity was a given. Margo’s forgiveness was another matter.

The sound of Todd jogging to a stop just outside her door distracted Alice. Margo used the distraction to pull her hand away. When Todd entered the room trying to look as if he hadn’t run for his life to get there it was as if the moment between the two women never happened. Margo was at her desk, shuffling at the papers there and brushing off eraser shavings. Alice stood close by, looking crestfallen and composed all at once. You had to know her to see the hurt swimming in the ice of her blue eyes. 

“Todd, can you see Miss Quinn out? And call in my lieutenant, I need a status report.”


	2. Chapter 2

“You are being such a baby, you know that?”

“Kady!” Margo greeted the brunette with a fake grin and an air kiss, “How was the honeymoon?”

Kady rolled her blue eyes and flipped her dark hair and all Margo could think is, _She’d look pretty with a glossy plum lipstick_. That and, _Don’t start with me today bitch._

Today was the first meeting of the month with their hedges to share information and practice. As usual, all of Margo’s carefully laid plans went out the window because _someone_ (Todd) was an hour late for all of their deliveries today. All the deliveries Margo had so carefully scheduled to come right when they needed it, with enough time for _someone_ (Todd) to pack everything away. Somehow the firefly eggs she’d ordered had gotten mixed up with the magic batteries Margo had been holding for a friend.

Luckily, Kady and Julia were back and they had no problem getting everything where it was supposed to be before Margo blew a fucking gasket. For most of the morning, the three women worked in silence on their respective duties. Kady was in charge of scouting and rounding up all the hedges when Margo needed them. She was the muscle Margo needed on days when Marina sent her goons to fuck their shit up and the dynamite she needed to retaliate.

Marina had been quiet lately, too quiet for Margo’s standards but she knew how to take an opportunity when she saw one. With Marina on the backburner, Margo could focus on what she was actually supposed to do as the leader of all these hedge-witches. Learn some fucking magic. This is where Julia comes in.

Julia, patron saint of magical-fuck ups who didn’t have the power to study at Brakebills or a death wish to follow Marina. She was a master at developing, fine-tuning, and teaching magic to the hedge-witches who showed up on their doorstep. Like Margo, she was classically trained yet like Kady she’d spent enough time on her own to surpass everything they’d taught at Brakebills. There were hedges among them who’d started out with only the ability to create simple sparks of magic. Under Julia’s teachings, they’d learned to mind control bees, create magical batteries, and more.

Margo wasn’t blind to what brought all the hedges she cared for under her wing. Without Kady or Julia, she’d be sitting on nothing but ashes, maybe less if Marina had her way. She hadn’t asked to be a leader but she was one, and she was nothing without her lieutenants. If only she hadn’t chosen from the gaggle of assholes she’d went to college with.

“The honeymoon was nice, thank you for your gift,” Julia breezed into the old abandoned high school gym Margo had commandeered for their training with a box of gadgets weighing down her tiny arms. Kady immediately stopped glaring at Margo to help her partner with the box. 

“Alice stopped by last week,” Kady filled her partner in with a knowing glance. Julia looked over at Margo with amused shock on her delicate features. She looked extra petite next to Kady’s much taller, stronger frame. Margo couldn’t understand how two tall people were destined to date such a shrimp.

“And did we have fun?” Julia sauntered over to where Margo was laying out notebooks and pens on all the tables they’d managed to scrounge up.

“_We_ had a drink, caught up on old times, and then she left. Same as always.” Margo slammed a notebook down onto a picnic bench so hard it slid right off the surface and onto the floor. Margo handed the rest of the notebooks to Julia and before bending down to reach under the attached bench seat for the notebook.

“Alice invited her to Q and El’s reunion dinner. It’s the first time we’ll all be together since ...” Kady trailed off awkwardly.

Down on the floor, Margo allowed her hurt, anger, and jealousy to show on her face. Just to get it out. She was stressed enough and holding in anything else would cause her to crack and she couldn’t afford to crack right now. Marina may have paused her attacks but that didn’t mean they were truly over. When Margo had her feelings off her face she made one last grab for the notebook, caught it, then sat up.

“Since you all got booed up and I learned I’m going to be single for the rest of my life?” Margo huffed a lock of hair out of her face and stood up. Julia took the notebook from her hands, her brown eyes wide, and sympathetic.

“You know that’s not what the spell said.” Julia and Kady shared a look. The same look they'd all shared years and years ago. Back when they were stupid enough to try out spells they knew nothing about just for the hell of it.

“Know, schmow. You can’t talk because you got your happily ever after,” Margo turned her back on the shorter woman and stalked to the other side of the gym, “Both of them. Talk to me when you’ve lost everything.”

Julia and Kady remained silent so Margo did her part by filling the silence with all the shit they’d missed while gone. Todd was a fuck-up, as usual, and she’d really been thinking of just cutting him loose in the end. It was fine for him to fuck up in times of peace but that last thing Margo needed was someone else's’ fuck up affecting her carefully laid plans. She updated them on Marina’s radio silence and warned them to be prepared to pack up and roll out should shit ever hit the fan.

Margo had seen enough death, the last thing she wanted was to confront Marina head-on when they weren’t ready.

Once her recap was finished the first trickle of hedges entered the room and there was no more talk of Alice or dinner parties or the fact that no matter what she did, Margo still wasn't entirely over her shared past with Alice.  
After their lesson, Margo stayed behind to talk to the hedges while Julia and Kady cleaned up. She only had so much patience for that though so before the fifth person could step up to bore her with inane questions Margo waved Julia over and retreated to her office. Julia was much better with the naive and magic hungry anyway.

Once alone in her office, Margo breathed a sigh of relief. One of the things people never tell you about stepping into leadership roles was that no problem ever seemed to stay solved and everyone expected you to pull out a solution like a rabbit out of a hat. There was no one to shift responsibility on, not even Kady and Julia if she was being honest. 

On her desk there were papers that needed to be looked through and Margo still had to make phone calls to some of the Head Bitches known to hate Marina more than Margo did. An ally was needed, and though she had the numbers Margo had very little territory to work with. She didn't trust the other Head Bitches anymore than she trusted Marina, but the enemy of my enemy and all that.

It's not like Margo had any options.

Instead of doing all that, Margo grabbed the closest bottle of champagne (no glass, she was having one of those kinds of weeks) and dialed Eliot. Since life had taken them in very different directions they couldn't be as attached at the hip as they'd like to be. Margo would complain if power didn't suit her as well as being a trophy husband suited Eliot. 

Hitting speed dial, Margo popped the cork on the bottle and chugged her way through foam until she the sweet, dry bubbliness spread across her tongue. Eliot picked up on the second ring. His deep, melodic voice was a balm to the hurricane waging war on her heart.

"Hey, Bambi you're on speaker. Can you tell Q that the table settings have to match the color story in the menu or it just won't make sense?" Before Margo could reply she could hear Quinten's indignant squawk in the background.

"I don't even know what that means!" Quinten's voice grew louder, "Hey Margo can you tell El that we don't need an eight-course meal for seven people?"

Margo smiled, her eyes burned but that could just because she's chugging thousand-dollar champagne like it was malt liquor. It wasn't the homesickness or the exhaustion of seeing Alice and fielding Julia and Kady's questions. Nope, it was obviously champagne.

"Eliot's right Q. A dinner party needs a color story to look deliberate." Eliot hummed in triumph, "And El, 8 courses is too much for 7 people." Quentin crowed his victory

"Thank's Margo!" His voice already faint, Q smartly bowed out of the conversation.

Eliot huffed as if he were annoyed but Margo knew better. He was no doubt making goo-goo eyes at Quinten being a dork and, once he noticed them, Q would no doubt have the same look of adoration and love on his face. It was the same look they'd shared _that_ night. The night Margo had felt herself on the cusp of something great with no evidence but a gut feeling and the arrogance of her youth.

"So you are coming, right? If eight courses are too much for seven it will definitely be too much for six. And you know how I feel about leftovers," Eliot's voice turned delicately disgusted.

Margo fingered the lip of the champagne bottle, "I don't know El. Can't we do something small? Just me, you, and Q?"

"No. You will not back out of this again," Eliot drawled. His voice went soft and he suddenly sounded much closer to the phone. "I know why you want to cancel and any other day I'd be right there with you but," he sighed.

Margo felt a whine building in her throat. She knew. These dinners meant much more than whatever lingering feelings of regret she may still carry. Beyond their friendship and alumni status, the seven of them are a family. They'd survived too much together to not be.

"It's one dinner. Instead of eight courses, I'll do four and you can skip the inevitable board game war."

Margo pressed the bottle of champagne against her forehead and sighed. She was going to this fucking dinner party.

"Okay I'll come," and then she added pointedly, "I'll come for you and Q but I will not be the only single person in a room full of couples." 

Eliot hummed in agreement, tactfully not pointing out that she wouldn't have been just by virtue of Alice being there.

"Deal." Eliot paused and his tone turned cloying, his version of playful, "And do I get to know the name of your date?"

Margo almost said no, but she knew Eliot well enough to know he wouldn't let it rest there. And she'd never before felt the need to keep something from Eliot before so starting now would do nothing but raise suspicions. Problem was, Margo didn't have her usual roster of men to call on at a whim. Being Head Bitch had more downsides than the title implied. The lack of romantic entanglements or fuck buddies hadn't bothered Margo to begin with (she was perfectly capable of getting herself off thank you very much) but now the oversight felt glaring.

Desperate, Margo said the first name that occurred to her, "Hoberman,"

The pause on Eliot's end seemed to last years before he finally said, "Who?"

Margo sighed, a smile playing around the corner of her mouth for the first time that day. Of course, Eliot didn't remember Josh Hoberman. He'd been a year or two above them, basically a super senior. Despite having the connection to some amazing magical drugs, Josh wasn't the type of person they'd have looked twice at. Still, Margo and Eliot let him come to their parties for his stash.

Margo explained all this to Eliot between sips of champagne. The more she drank, the more time she spent on the phone with Eliot, the calmer she felt. It was easy to step into the person she really was with Eliot. He'd seen all of her, the messy parts, the broken pieces, all just barely covered by the facade she'd adopted so long ago it sometimes felt like her actual personality.

But when she was with Eliot none of that matters. They didn't pretend for each other, and it was the most freeing part of their relationship. If she didn't know better Margo would say that she and Eliot were soul mates. 

"I heard that Alice stopped by," Eliot spoke carefully, the question implied even if he didn't ask. If she wanted, she could ignore the not-question and he'd let her. Eliot was good like that.

"Was it the Triad?" 

Eliot chuckled, "Q actually. He and Alice talk weekly."

Margo sneered, "Of course they do"

"Don't make that face, you'll get wrinkles." Eliot sang knowingly.

Margo relaxed her features but her frustration remained. Alice didn't have the right to talk about her. Especially to Quentin of all people.

"I still don't understand why you won't just talk to each-"

"Givenchy!" Margo blurted. Eliot stopped speaking immediately. Givenchy was their safe word and, though they rarely used it, Margo was more grateful for it than ever.

Eliot switched topics without missing a beat. He started telling her about his plans for the dinner party and how much fun he was having riling up the Stepford wife next door. Margo listened but didn't contribute much to the conversation. Her mind was still on Alice and how everyone was trying to force them to get over it and grow up. As if it were that simple? As if pretending it never happened had ever worked for any of them.


	3. Chapter 3

Margo visits Josh Hoberman with her best deep blue silk eyepatch. The one with the cute brocade pattern that matched her corset. And, more importantly, a bottle of enchanted champagne. They'd shared as friends with benefits relationship that ended because they weren't actually friends. Josh settled into a life of decadence and magic drugs while Margo had bigger fish to fry elsewhere.

She'd kept his number in case of emergencies and had taken to calling him often once she became Head Bitch in upstate New York. He was a pushover and despite his love of partying was a great resource for potions and spells. Natural magic had never been used in an offensive capacity before Margo and Marina began battling it out. Josh gave Margo the edge she needed to compete with her rival.

He was the only one from "back in the day" that didn't know about her and Alice which she was more than thankful for. It was bad enough her whole friend group knew every detail.

Despite keeping in touch with Josh for business. She made it a point not to get too personal with him. Shared alma mater or not, it wouldn't take much for someone to betray her should Marina exert enough pressure. Josh was a lot like Todd in his spinelessness. Margo couldn't count on a sense of loyalty making him choose her secrets over his life.

Josh's home turned out to be a greenhouse loft. Fitting for the Nature kid she'd rescued from a bunker in The Neitherlands.

Margo let herself up, unlocking Josh's wards was like cutting through butter with a hot knife. She knocked when she reached the door. She could be polite after all.

Josh opened the door wearing an apron and floral gardening gloves, a worried look on his face. Margo brandished her champagne, "I bring gifts!"

Josh considers the wine for a moment, then steps aside to wave her in. 

"Alright what do you want?" Josh drawled after shutting the door behind her.

Margo wasted time answering by taking off her coat and stalking towards the kitchen, "You know me so well,"

Josh's apartment was more greenhouse than an apartment. There was a small area for sleeping but a huge kitchen dominated the living space. Plants in various colors, scents, and genus hung from the rafters, bookcases. Along the back wall was an actual greenhouse that led to a rooftop garden and grill area on the balcony. It was clear where Josh's priorities lay.

"Yes, Margo I do know you. Which is how I know you're going to drink all the champagne you brought for me," Margo popped the top with a grin. Josh nodded and waved her on, he'd expected nothing less after all.

"And I know that if this was a social call you would have, you know, actually called?" Josh continued, shucking his apron and joining her in the kitchen.

Margo shrugged and beckoned flutes from a cabinet. One of the good things about Josh was that he understood that stemware was a kitchen necessity. She filled one glass and paused to drain it before refilling it. One more sip and then Margo finally poured Josh a glass.

"Do you always have to drink?" Josh studying her over his glass once she handed it to him.

"No, but it makes the trauma feel better."

Josh nodded in commiseration. 

Together they sipped at their glasses in silence. Or well, what approximate silence in Josh’s apartment. Margo couldn’t be sure but she could hear the faint strains of music coming from the greenhouse. The song wasn’t half bad but she didn’t feel like enquiring about why he was playing. God forbid he actually tells her.

“So what do I owe this visit? Need me to weaponize my helpless plants for your mysterious whims?” 

Margo smiled like a shark, “Not today,” she took pleasure in the sight of Josh actually becoming unsettled at the look on her face. He really was like Todd in some ways.

“No El and Q are being all domestic in the woods and they’ve invited the whole gang to a little reunion dinner. Despite miraculously keeping in touch after graduating they want to celebrate our continued friendship.” Margo made a show of rolling her eyes and looking generally put upon by the whole event.

Josh brightened, “No way you still keep in touch with the old gang? Penny too?”

Margo side-eyed his enthusiasm, “Yes…”

“Really? What about that scary chick? The one who was caught making out with-”

“Kady and Julia. Yeah, they’re still around. Celebrating their third anniversary with the scarf-wearing traveler and everything.” Margo took a sip of her champagne.

Josh continued in that amazed tone, “You all still hang out? Together?” He suddenly looked uncomfortable, “And yet none of you can answer any of my texts?”

Margo froze. Oh yeah, Josh had kind of been apart of their friend group. He’d been a super senior who enjoyed partying but was also way too brilliant to be kicked out of school for his antics. Margo and Eliot had adopted him, though he was a few grades above them. But having an on-call plug for drugs for their parties and a third for their schemes was priceless. 

Once he’d finally graduated they’d more or less forgotten about him and moved on.

“Well, that’s why I’m here!” Margo set her glass down and met the glum look on his face with a dazzling smile. “Eliot doesn’t know your address so he couldn’t send the invitation.”

Josh didn’t look like he was buying that for a minute, but he sighed instead of calling her out. “I’m choosing to believe that,” he snatched the champagne bottle and poured the last of it into his flute. “Okay fine, I’ll go with you. When’s the dinner party.”

Margo clapped her hands, pleased by his easy acquiescence. She’d been ready to flirt, even have sex with him to get him to come along. Lord knows it wouldn’t have been charity and it had definitely been a long while for her. No one knew Margo’s body better than herself, but there was only so much self-pleasure could do at the end of the day. But his easy agreement solved several problems at once. 

Best case scenario she was in by the appetizer and out before coffee and cake in the sitting room. No need to linger, no need to even look at the elephant in the room.

After explaining everything Josh needed to know Margo put on her coat and grabbed her purse. No need to linger, she’d gotten what she came for.

“I will send you your outfit for the night so focus on cleaning under your fingernails. Also, try not smelling like weed.”

Josh scoffed, “I _can_ dress myself,”

Margo turned to look at him. He was wearing a green plaid button-up open over a gray t-shirt and khaki cargos topped by holey gray socks.

Josh looked away from her judgemental perusal, “Okay I’ll text you my sizes.”

Margo patted his cheek, “Thank’s Hoberman.” 

With that, Margo swept out of his apartment, down the industrial lift to the ground floor and into the car waiting for her in the street. She signaled her driver with a dismissive wave and settled back in her seat for the long drive back home. The trip to Josh’s house hadn’t taken longer than thirty minutes yet Margo felt exhausted.

She’d forgotten what it felt like to pretend around people who knew you. Yes, she had Julia and Kady working with her but they were all busy with their own things. You could hide problems from your friends if you limit their access to you. 

Margo needed to suck it all up and put on her big girl panties. She had a dinner party to get through. If she couldn’t sit through a quick convo with Josh Hoberman of all people she wouldn’t survive one minute around all her friends at once. Her only saving grace might be the fact that Eliot, having put so much effort into planning everything, would rather they focus on his party planning prowess than Margo’s inability to be okay.

_You did it bitch, Margo thought, you’ve bought yourself another day._


	4. Chapter 4

In the days leading up to Eliot and Quentin’s dinner party Margo loses herself in her work. Magic isn’t easy, and it’s not an easy thing to teach. For every prodigy like Julia or badasses like Kady, there’s those poor fuckers who just don’t have the* power. But you can't very well tell them that. Magicians are highly sensitive, dramatic, and self absorbed creatures. Half Margo’s job is dealing with egos and hurt feelings.

So on the night of the dinner party, Margo found a tentative curl of excitement in her belly. It's been years since they were all together like this. Years since they could enjoy of night of food and drinking and laughter and drinking.

Margo showed up to Josh's apartment, dressed to the nines. Feeling downright buoyant at the thought of dinner tonight. Not even Alice and her icy, disapproving eyes could rain on Margo's parade.

That said, Margo happily took three, or four, shots of Josh's infused tequila before declaring his outfit "good enough" and ushering him out into the early evening.

Margo's buzz carried her all the way to Eliot's front door. The liquid courage had her thinking she could get through the night. Margo was a badass she could manage a dinner. Whatever confidence Margo drummed up abandoned her as soon as the door swung open.

Seeing Eliot was like a breath of fresh air. Some of Margo's anxiety left her.

"Darling," they both drawled, leaning in for affectionate cheek pecks. Close to her right ear Eliot whispered, "Josh is looking well,"

"He dressed himself, can you believe it?" Margo breathed before shifting to kiss his other cheek.

"Alice hasn't arrived yet. But the Throuple looked minutes away from a full on psychic threesome in my sitting room."

Pulling back, Eliot kept a grip on her elbows so Margo couldn't go far. Hazel eyes poured over Margo's face. It took everything in her not to break down right there, right in Eliot's arms. They rarely got to see each other these days, there lives were so different. 

He was only a phone call away but after lonely childhoods they'd learned to seek comfort in one another. Not being able to reach out and grip Eliot's hand for strength wore on Margo. With every battle against Marina, every Magician lost because Margo hadn't been clever or fast enough. Because hadn't been more merciless than her opponent.

It was only the chatter of voices in the house beyond Eliot's slim frame that kept Margo and her wayward emotions in check. 

"Um... hey?" Josh piped up from behind Margo.

Oh yeah, she'd forgotten about him.

“Josh,” Eliot greeted with his practiced warmth, “You’re certainly... dressed.” Even years out of school neither one of them could shake the slight mean-girl backhanded compliment. It came so easily to their parents and, as a consequence, them.

Sharing a look with Margo, Eliot looped his arm through Josh’s and propelled him into the house, “Everyone hasn’t arrived yet but I’m sure you’re dying to catch up.”

Josh spluttered. Red filled his cheeks, but he couldn’t get a word in edgewise as Eliot deftly moved him out of the entryway. 

It was up to Margo then, to shut and lock the door.

For an hour they sipped wine and snacked on Eliot’s expertly prepared hor d’oeuvre's. Everyone teased Eliot for falling into the roll of Stepford Husband, but it was easy to see how happy he and Quinten were. 

They glowed with their love for one another. Their hands or eyes never leaving the other person until absolutely necessary. Even when Q stood up, his long hair tucked back behind his ears, Eliot’s eyes stayed on his husband. Looking at the two of them felt almost voyeurism. But they were still apart of the group so it wasn’t too hard to ignore the feeling.

Margo could tolerate the love and joy between her two best friends. Julia, Kady, and Penny have an intense dynamic, but they managed to tone it down for the group. Or maybe for Margo’s sake.

Despite Josh, she’s the only unattached one in the room. When they’re together like this, it makes it more and more obvious how differently their lives have turned out. How one night could have changed everything for her forever if she’d only been brave enough to-

“Alice is here!” Eliot called from the doorway. Margo couldn’t remember the doorbell ringing, him leaving to get it, nor her finishing her glass of wine.

But she remembered vividly what Alice looked like the last they’d seen each other. The ice in her blue eyes, the ghost of what could have been on her lovely face. 

Feeling the eyes of everyone on her, Margo made a show of grabbing the neck of the bottle they’d been drinking and pouring the last of it into her glass. “And only an hour late,” she drawled, her eyes on the wine almost level with the rim of her glass.

Taking a careful sip, Margo finally looked over at Alice in the doorway. Her pale, blonde hair had been swept up out of her face and her glasses were gone. Margo wished she could say her jaw looked too big with her hair up. She wished she could say her eyes were too small without those large black frames to hide behind.

Instead, Alice looked as beautiful as always. A vision in a blue dress that covered her pink knees but left miles of pale calf for Margo’s eyes to feast on. As usual, not a seam was out of place, her jewelry was understated and silver. Alice looked like the woman Margo had always seen inside her freshie face. 

From the day they’d met Margo had seen right through Alice. Even if the other woman hadn’t warmed to her until she’d nearly graduated. Yet look at them now

“Okay,” Julia’s soft, voice broke the tension that had filled the room as Alice and Margo took one another in. “Q do you need help setting the table.”

Quinten, bless his heart, jumped to his feet, and crossed the room. He hugged Alice close and said something only she could hear. Then he turned to Eliot, “Didn’t you have a seating chart, El?”

“Of course!” Eliot replied smoothly. He ran his hands along Quinten’s arm before turning to the room at large and motioning for them to follow him to the dining room. 

Everyone filed out quickly, Penny and Kady kept a grip on Josh so he didn’t even have the choice to linger. When everyone cleared out, it was only Alice, Margo, and Margo’s full wineglass left.

“I didn’t think you’d come,” Alice said. There was no emotion to her words.

Margo sipped her wine and said nothing. She didn’t have it in her to be nice at the moment. The more she drank the more she remembered their last night together. The more she remembered Alice coming into Margo’s office and tainting it with memories of what they weren’t.

“I didn’t know you were still in contact with Josh.” Alice tried again.

Margo’s eyes flicked up and down Alice’s frame when she answered, “He missed the group.”

She said nothing more, unwilling to share anything more. Margo didn't have to tell her that Josh was their go-to guy for potions and concoctions. Back in their Brakebills days that had been Alice’s roll in their ragtag group. If Margo brought that up she’d no doubt bring up the fact that Josh had no problem sleeping with her despite “who she was”, but that felt petty. 

She wanted Alice to suffer, not Eliot’s dinner party.

Seeing that she wasn’t getting anywhere with her, Alice turned without another word and went into the dining room.

Now it was just Margo and her wine. Why did this feel like deja vu?


	5. Chapter 5

Margo enters the dining room last, throwing her neck back to catch the final splash of wine in her glass. When she rights herself, buzzed and seeing stars, it takes a moment to realize everyone is standing and not sitting around the dining table. 

The… round* dining table.

Eliot has apparently decided he was bringing round tables back into fashion. Margo glances at her best friend, no judgement in her eyes but a fair amount of fond confusion. Eliot straightened his posture and addressed the room at large.

"It's the only proper way to have a truly intimate dinner party."

Eliot liked to set a scene, and what better scene than the one he made appear with a snap of his fingers. Platters of food, place settings, and a seasonal centerpiece covered the table. Everyone clapped an appropriate amount of time. Allowing Eliot to bask in the moment he planned. Q met Margo's eyes over Eliot's shoulder. At the same time they sent each other weird looks.

"Truly?" Julia mouthed from her spot between Penny and Kady. Kady was the only one who laughed.

Eliot ignored them. He focused instead on directing their friends to their seats. As if the calligraphy on cardstock wasn't an obvious enough sign. 

Margo rubbed Eliot's back as she passed him. She was happy to be close to her best friend again. She missed Eliot a lot but respected his wish to be out of the Magician vs. Hedgewitch power plays. To Margo he deserved his domesticity more than anyone.

Eliot took far too much joy making Julia leave her seat between Kady and Penny. She ended up next to Josh, with Kady on her other side and Alice separating Penny from them. Margo ended up between Eliot and Penny, placing Josh and Quentin in front of her.

Alice ended up next to Penny.

Alice was in the perfect blind spot in the corner of Margo's eye. As long as Penny didn’t lean too far forward she could pretende the Alice wasn’t even there.

Once everyone had settled in their seats, Margo shot Eliot a knowing, thankful look. He’d known how hard this dinner would be, and he’d surrounded her with all her favorite people. No offense to Kady or Julia but Penny was easily her favorite member of the Throuple. He wasn’t as mired down in their shit as Kady and Julia were.

Penny was aware of the Marina situation and had come in clutch when they needed him. But he wasn’t a part of the turf war the way they were. Like Eliot, he was that shot of normalcy Margo needed. He kept her from getting jaded or too full of herself at the top of her throne.

That was the worst part about Margo almost missing this dinner. Her and her friends rarely got together. They rarely hung out. Their lives after Brakebills had tipped them ass over end into their own shit. 

Aside from occasional check ins and “we’re alive!” drinking sessions there weren’t any moments to talk. To pause and look at these people Margo has known for almost all her adult life.

But she’d have never seen Alice by candlelight. And what a crime that was. Her porcelain skin and pale hair went creamy and rich under the flickering light. Her blue eyes shone and when they flicked in Margo’s direction she jumped.

"Nice, cardstock," Josh tries. It makes Eliot smile with triumph, so Margo nods at him from across the table. She hadn’t thought to coach him for this dinner party. He knew everyone more or less so why bother. But he's proven himself worthy of the wine she’d gifted him. M0re comments like that and she’d invite him as a buffer more often. 

Julia, with eyes like a hawk and a fundamental inability to keep her mouth shut, comments on the nod immediately.

“So, Josh,” she begins, her eyes dancing between him and Margo, “What have you been up to?”

Margo resists the urge to look at Alice and jerks when she stops herself from glaring at Josh. His answer better be good. Secret looks with the whole table paying attention was a bad idea. To cover the graceless movement, Margo grabs a glass of wine on the table and takes a sip.

Eliot has experimented with making his own spirits and they were drinking was his latest batch. Sweet, dry peach wine saved Margo from having to say anything and look at anyone. It didn’t, unfortunately, stop her from hearing Josh’s answer.

“Well, after I graduated I got heavy into psychedelics. Spent six months partying with Bacchus. Six months?” Josh’s voice turned up at the end, “Maybe more actually. Time moves differently when you’re partying with a god.”

Margo wanted the floor to eat her whole. Was he flexing the fact that he fucked off after he finally graduated? To party with a god who’s powers extend at best to curing a headache no less? Margo liked a party as much as the next ex rave girl, but c’mon? Who wastes an education from one of the top magical institutes and?

Granted Margo ended up getting wrapped up in a Fairy Deal for two years so who is she to judge?

When she checked back in to the conversation and set her glass down, Josh was still talking. Everyone around the table followed his conversation with varying amounts of difficulty. Eliot seemed annoyed by the topic switch but was trying to be a good host so he refused to interrupt him. Kady and Quentin had matching expressions of confused shock on their faces. Penny looked like he had a headache.

And Julia, the bitch, looked delighted.

Josh paused to breathe or take a sip of wine. Margo didn’t know, she’d checked out when he went on a tangent about the properties of god semen once ingested. But that pause for air allowed Eliot the opening he needed to steer them off that topic.

“Thank you, Josh, for… sharing that with us.” Eliot’s smile was tight and didn’t reach his eyes. Quentin grabbed Eliot’s hand and laced their fingers together, relaxing Eliot immediately. 

With a warmer smile around the rest of the dinning party Eliot explained their first course.

A tasting menu of all the amuse bouche recipes he couldn’t narrow down before the party. Every platter had 16 tiny morsels, in various textures and levels of complexity. Julia shot a glance towards Margo then Quentin. Penny fiddled with his napkin on his lap and took a sip of his wine. No one moved to grab and amuse bouche from the platter.

Eliot, with an expression a few shades shy of annoyed snapped, “You may eat now.”

Quentin grabbed a platter and loaded his plate. He passed it to Josh and picked up the next platter. The rest of the table awkwardly got with the program. Margo loved her friend but the attempt at culinary perfection was lost on this crowd. When the platter came to Eliot Margo grabbed for it and filled both their plates.

“So tell me about suburbia. Do you have the PTA parents falling in line?”

Eliot smirked, “We don’t have children so they have allowed me to rule my little kingdom undisturbed.”

“You guys planning on kids?” Josh blurted out.

Everyone froze to look back at Eliot and Quentin to see their reactions. Quentin looked caught. His cheeks full with the mini grilled watermelon steaks and buttery spinach puffs. Eliot looked ready to gut Josh right there. Margo wished she could kick him from under the table, but she couldn’t risk missing her target and making a scene.

“We were thinking of kids,” Julia blurted.

Kady and Penny looked like creepy twins as they snapped their necks to stare at Julia in shock, “We were?”

Margo had the same question. She didn’t think Kady or Penny had ever really been kids growing up. She doubted they had much experience with the tiny temperamental sacks of youth. And Julia had never expressed any interest in children. Aside from the time Margo and Kady had driven her to her abortion junior year. The topic had never come up after that.

“Yeah,” Julia said, as if they were the ones acting weird. Smiling at the table Julia passed the platter to a stunned Josh, “We decided we didn’t want them.”

“Well…” Penny intoned. Now it was Julia’s turn to snap her neck. Kady actually sat back.

When he realized the whole table was staring at him his shoulders hunched to his ears. Penny stared at the platter in front of him, “I mean obviously not right now but I wouldn’t mind… having a chance to fix this fucked up family tree. Do a better job than my own parents at least.”

Julia looked like she understood his sentiments. Kady took a generous swig of her wine and an awkward silence settled over the table.

Then Josh said, “I’d like to have kids, I think it’d be fun.”

Alice scoffed. She’d said little during most of the dinner party so far. If not for her inability to stop being aware of her presence, Margo would have forgotten she was there. The whole table stared at her now, and her cheeks went red under their scrutiny.

“You don’t think I’d be a good dad?” Josh jokes.

Alice doesn’t smile but the tension on her face loosens, “Not you specifically Josh. I believe all Magicians are incapable of being good parents.”

“Here we go,” Margo grabbed Penny’s untouched wine glass and poured it into the dregs of her cup.

“Am I not allowed to have any other opinion, Margo?” Alice snaps.

Margo doesn’t meet her eyes as she says, “Opinions are like assholes, Alice. Every friend group has one.”

She punctuates her statement by throwing back her wine like a shot.

"These spinach pastry things are delicious El," Quentin speaks around a cheek full of pastry. Everyone nods enthusiastically and the focus of the conversation moves to Eliot's menu.

Margo can feel the heat of Alice's stare though she ignores it. She should have ignored her from the start, maybe things wouldn't be the way they are now.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not edited, forgive me, thank you for reading.

The dinner party goes on with no further spats between Margo and Alice. The tension between the two women is obvious though. No matter how hard their friends try, no one can quite recover the ease of conversation from earlier.

Alice for her part remains silent. She keeps her eyes on her plate and only speaks once she's dragged into the conversation. Margo refuses to shut up though. She drinks and she talks and the courses pass with hardly any food passing Margo's lips. It's obvious to everyone except Josh that this was a bad idea.

Margo and Alice had gone years avoiding each other. Now they were thrust together without anything between them resolved.

Once the meal ended Quentin drew their friends into the living room with drinks and the promise of music. Eliot hung back so Margo did too. She wanted a moment with her friend and a break from the Ice Queen. 

When it was just the two of them Eliot studied Margo from over the rim of his glass. His eyes were hazy from drink but sharp against Margo’s raw nerves. For a second, she hated him for his happiness. Envy thick like tar clogged her throat but Margo set her glass down. She wanted to choke on her jealousy. 

"Domesticity suits you, El." Margo remarked when it seemed like the silence between them would stretch into eons.

Eliot smiled and ran a hand through his hair, "Who'd have thought, huh? I thought I'd leave school and become the ultimate socialite. Dinner parties and brunch on the weekend, festivals in summer…"

Margo smiled, "Then you fell for the guy who was the exact opposite of all that."

Eliot rolled his eyes and sighed, but the fondness and love for his husband was obvious, "Don't remind me."

Envy bloomed like an ugly thing beneath her chest. Margo cleared her throat and stood from the table. She couldn’t hate her best friend for finding happiness. He deserved all that he had and more and it wasn’t like she was mad at him for her lack of a love life. 

Eliot hadn’t planned to fall for Quentin. His happiness didn’t come at the cost of her own. But she couldn’t look at him in that moment. Margo could take in his domestic bliss with the chill of Alice’s anger fresh in her memory.

As she passed his chair, Eliot caught Margo by the arm, “Is it as bad as it was? Between the two of you? I mean, " Eliot rolled his eyes and waved his freehand in the air, “Obviously things aren’t great. But the battle magic hasn’t come out.”

Margo chewed her lip as she considered how to answer, “She came to visit me at HQ the other day. She wanted me to agree to not fight with her for you guys.”

Eliot studied Margo as she spoke. His gaze made her anxiety spike, “We ended up fighting before she left anyway. No magic but just as much venom as the old days.”

“Why did you guys fall out, anyway? I know the spell was a little much in the moment, but we all fell in line with our destiny.” Eliot cocked his head, “More or less. Still don’t get the Penny, Kady, Julia thing, if I’m being honest.”

Margo smirked, “I still don’t believe the spell worked. The five of you were freak accidents that happened to have a happy ending.” Tugging at his grip on her arm, Margo leaned towards the entryway to the sitting room.

“Let me go to the powder room and I’ll join you and the rest of the Mystery Gang soon.” Margo tried to smirk. She tried to give a quick, weightless smile that would banish the look of worry and concern in Eliot’s hazel eyes.

Eliot let her go, but his touch lingered until they held hands, “Hurry back. I hid the yearbook, but there’s only so much I can do to keep nosy Julia Wicker from snooping when she wants to snoop.”

Margo nods, and she feels the rotation of the earth for a very brief moment. She didn’t know how much she’d knocked during dinner, but the plum wine was catching up to her. It was only through sincere concentration that Margo was able to put one stiletto in front of the other and make her way to the bathroom.

As she passed the hallway, she could hear her friends in the sitting room. From the sounds of it Josh was doing something gross, Quentin was begging him to stop and Penny was egging him on. The corner of Margo’s lips lifted as a memory of their late nights at The Cottage. Josh wasn’t even a Physical Kid, yet he hung around like a clingy one night stand and made himself at home in their living room.

The happy sounds of her friends shouting and laughing almost swayed Margo from her trek to the bathroom. It’s been so long since she’d acted her age. Being a leader in a quiet territory war could be lonely and tedious. She had wine and vodka for the rough days, but drinking alone had never been her favorite thing.

Margo turned towards the sitting room. It lit up the dim, candle lit hallway. It wasn’t like the lights were especially bright in that room but it seemed glow all the same. More real to Margo’s heavy eyes and the shadow nooks and crannies of the corridor. Entering the door frame, Margo paused at the sight of Alice on the couch.

She had a crystal glass of punch resting on her knees, and her bright blue eyes were lit up with actual happiness. Margo couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen Alice’s eyes go all soft. She always had a way of looking hunted or stressed. For years while at school together, Margo thought of pressing her thumb against the furrow between her eyebrows.

The lamp next to her cast a warm light against her pale hair, making it look almost golden. When their eyes met across the room, Margo couldn’t breathe. She’d spent so long not looking at her, not _seeing_ her, that Margo forgot how beautiful she was.

There was a space next to her, half a seat between where she and Kady sat watching the antics of their friends. Margo would fit perfectly there. Well, she’d have to press close. Close enough to feel the warmth of Alice. Close enough to see her blue eyes all lit up again.

The longing that pulled at her chest turned Margo’s stomach.

Alice broke their stare, clenching her jaw and staring down at the glass of punch still resting on her knees. For a moment she was back in Brakebills. Days away from graduation and terrified she lose the best friends she’d ever had. Then the spell happens and Alice, younger and less damaged by adulthood Alice, has the same expression on her face.

Margo swallowed back her liquid dinner and ran to the bathroom.

“Margo?” the tentative knock at the door could only belong to one person.

“Go away, Quentin.” Margo sways as she speaks. She tightens numb fingers around the edge of the sink. She can’t bear to look at herself in the mirror. The cool surface of the looking glass is heaven against her overheated skin.

“Ok.. i-it’s just. You’ve been in there a while and we’re a little concerned.” Quentin tries the door, the knob doesn’t turn. 

Margo sighs, “Yeah I know.”

“Do you… do you want to be alone? I could come in and we don’t even have to talk. I’ll keep you company” Quentin’s hesitation would be cute if Margo weren’t so deep in her head.

“Sure, why not.” Margo sighs. What could Quentin do to make her feel worse at this point. As sick as she felt, she couldn’t blame it on the alcohol. Yet she couldn’t blame it on Alice either. It wasn’t her fault being near her made Margo feel this way.

“You gotta let me in, Margo.”

She did didn’t she? Easier said than done. Once Quentin was here he’d keep quiet for only so long. The man did not know how to leave well enough alone. Penny at least would let Margo have her breakdown in silence. Eliot would want her to talk about it, but there’d be wine and snacks so that’d be more tolerable.

Quentin would want to get to the root of her feelings and try to solve the problems. He was always looking for a solution, whether or not there actually was one.

Pinching her fingers and flicking her wrist twice left to right, Margo unlocked the bathroom door. Once the click filled the silence of the bathroom, Margo dropped her hand back to the sink. It was the most stable thing in the softly swinging room.

Quentin opened the door a crack, then a second later he stuck his head around to stare inside the bathroom. Margo couldn’t tell what he was doing beyond her limited view of him in the mirror. His eyes searched the room, looking for what Margo didn’t know. 

Maybe he was happy to see she hadn’t turned his bathroom into a portal to another world.

Whatever he was looking for maybe he found it, maybe he didn’t. Either way, he slid the rest of the way into the bathroom and shut the door tight behind him.

“Ugh, will you sit down already? There are no traps to prepare for. I don’t need you to manage my emotions.”

Quentin jumped at the heat in Margo’s words and settled on the curved edge of the claw-foot tub. “I didn’t come in here to help you manage your emotions.” Quentin protested badly.

“Then why come in here at all?”

“Because your hurting,” Quentin said, “And you’re my friend.”

The simple sincerity in his voice gave Margo enough strength to let go of the sink. She turned away from the mirror to look at him, to look for the sincerity she knew she’d find in his kind brown eyes.

“Alice is your friend,” Margo pointed out.

Quentin’s eyes shifted away as he sighed, “Yes, she is. But,” he shrugged, “She’s the one hurting you. And it sucks to see it getting to you.”

Margo scoffed, “So you didn’t hear me compare her to the Pale Man over dinner?”

Quentin bit back a smile and tilted his head, “That wasn’t nice, yes. But…” some humor left his smile, “It’s more than that. And you know it.”

Margo swallowed and looked away. Yeah, she knew. She knew more than any of their friends. Except maybe Quentin. He’d changed after Eliot’s rejection of him. They’d come together in mutual misery until Eliot came to his senses and reunited with his favorite nerd. 

Margo, of course, had never had her reunion.

“So you guys haven’t tried to talk before this? I mean, aside from that time she came to your office.”

It was Margo’s turn to shrug, “I’m in the groupchat, just like you. But I haven’t gone out of my way to keep track of her. It’s easier that way.”

Quentin nodded, “And the… burning?” he coughed. 

Margo managed a smile at his discomfort. Such an adorable little nerd. Sometimes she could see why Eliot was so besotted.

“Brighter than ever baby. We’ve never consummated or even came to an agreement since that night.”

Quentin’s face contorted with all the words he wanted to say but wouldn’t lest Margo rip him apart. She appreciated the effort yet felt no need to save him from himself. Plus, it’s been years since they talked about it. Spells fucked up sometimes. You could have all the ingredients and translations, but that didn’t mean you’d get the outcome you wanted.

“Have you guys… tried?” Quentin went pale when Margo glared at him, “I mean!” he hurried to add, “You guys wrote the whole thing off so long ago, maybe you could meet up and talk about what you mean to each other. Get it all out on the table.”

Margo scoffed at the very idea. As if she hasn’t spent years thinking of all the thing she should have told Alice that night. Not the venom she’d spat after being rejected, but the truth revealed by the spell. But it was hard to have a conversation with someone it hurt to be around. Especially when that same someone wanted nothing to do with you.

Well Alice was here now and Margo had a lot to say.

“You’re right. We need to get it all out on the table.” Margo nodded at Quentin and stormed out of the bathroom. All her earlier weakness was gone. Now she's fueled by a drunk kind of bravery she hoped to god she’d forget about in the morning.


End file.
